Running scared of letting the people have their say

THE SCVO have come together with the churches, trade unions and business groups

THE term Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations might be unfamiliar – but the chances are they have helped you or someone close to you.

They are the umbrella group for Scotland’s charities – 1300 of them – from small local groups delivering meals for old people, to national household names campaigning for the homeless, the disabled or the young unemployed.

The Scottish Charity Awards, which are run by the SCVO, this year recognised the work of Alzheimer’s Scotland, Young Carers in Skye and Lochalsh, the Sue Ryder charity and Down’s Syndrome Scotland. That’s just a taster.

Why anybody would attack the SCVO or their staff is beyond me. But that is what Willie Rennie, the leader of Scotland’s Liberal Democrats, did recently.

Rennie is miffed because SCVO have joined the debate on Scotland’s future. Maybe he thinks that only politicians like him have that right. But politics is pointless if it’s not about people. That means cancer sufferers, the housebound, the low-paid worker worried about cuts to tax credits and housing benefits.

They should all have their say.

So full marks to the SCVO for coming together with the churches, trade unions, business groups and others to set up FutureofScotland.org.

The forum say they want everyone to join the debate, not just about independence but about whether the current set-up puts enough decision-making in the hands of Scotland’s people and what new powers our Parliament should have.

They want to “Give people – young and old – a voice. We will bring the debate not just to the over-18s, over-16s or the politically aware but to schools, social media networks, clubs, care homes, community halls and congregations.”

Who could object? Rennie, obviously.

He feels threatened because the SCVO have already said our Parliament should have much more power, particularly over the welfare and benefits system which is controlled by the Department for Work and Pensions in London.

Charities are worried about the Welfare Reform Bill coming from London, as well as cuts already imposed on Scotland by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.

When some of those charities came to talk to the committee of the Scottish Parliament that Rennie and I both sat on, he didn’t turn up and didn’t send a substitute. When our committee published a report asking for welfare to be devolved to Scotland, he condemned it.

Rennie is particularly incensed that Martin Sime is sympathetic to having a second question on the ballot paper in the referendum of 2014 – a second question offering extra power to the Scottish parliament short of independence.

Rennie accused the SCVO of being an SNP “front”, even though the SCVO talk to every party including his own. Their chairwoman Alison Elliot, a former moderator of the Church of Scotland, was not amused. She wrote to Rennie, saying: “I consider your allegations preposterous, your interpretation of the incidents fanciful and your attempt to interfere in the business of an independent organisation unworthy of a public leader.”

That’s him told. But Rennie is not alone in his unreasonableness.

The Lib Dems, the Tories and Labour are all determined that the ballot papers will not give people this choice. Polls show Scots – even if they don’t back independence yet – want their own Parliament beefed up. The SNP are fine with that. The other parties don’t want to talk about it.

Labour and the Tories have vaguely hinted that if Scots vote No in 2014, they will think about giving us extra powers – but who’d fall for that? The Lib Dems claim they want more powers given to Scots, indeed it has always been party policy.

They just don’t want it to happen now, have blocked any opportunity to make it happen and now want to silence anyone who suggests it.

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